Electronic snooping gets the green light

The government claims it has bowed to public pressure and found the right "balance" over plans to allow a wide range of government agencies and public bodies to access email and web browsing data stored by internet service providers

Civil liberties groups protested last year against proposals under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) that would allow government agencies, including bodies such as Parish Councils, to access electronic surveillance data and email and web browsing records stored by ISPs and phone companies as part of the Anti-Terrorism Bill.

Communications providers currently keep records on calls and emails for up to six months, but the proposals would double the time limit for conserving data. While the proposal on keeping details on email and phone communication is currently voluntary, the Home Office has said that in the event that phone companies and ISPs reject the move, it will look to make such data retention compulsory.

The data in question will cover names, addresses and the time and date of the communication – but for any access to content, government employees or agencies will still need a warrant, which is being proposed as an order under RIPA.

The government has said that it will be using such powers to investigate crime and protect national security. Home Office minister Caroline Flint said in a statement: "We are absolutely committed to safeguarding individual privacy...We need to ensure that we strike a balance between the privacy of the citizen and the need to investigate crime and protect the public. I believe that [this] achieves that balance."

The monitoring proposals were originally introduced in summer last year, but were revised following a public outcry over threats to civil liberties, with the list of bodies that can access the data with a warrant slashed.

However, the government will have a tough time convincing the public of its pro-privacy stance. Ian Brown, director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, told silicon.com that the government had failed to properly address the public's concerns and that the plans have been very selectively presented to the public.

"Very little has changed since last summer. We hoped the Home Office had spent time listening and amending their plans but it appears they've been finding the right language and spin to put on it", he said.

A Home Office spokesman told silicon.com that the measures, rather than being part of a trend towards greater public surveillance, were designed to regulate monitoring that was already taking place.

"These powers were in use long before RIPA...this monitoring already goes on and we need to regulate it with the right checks and balances in place to ensure privacy is protected," he said.